Something in the Water is back to Virginia Beach!

Last week, April 28 and 29, musical artists and fans gathered on a stretch of the Oceanfront’s beach and boardwalk for the third Something in the Water festival. The inaugural Something in the Water festival was held in April 2019 to great success, but was canceled due to COVID-19 in 2020-2021 and moved to Washington D.C. in 2022.

1991 Princess Anne High School graduate and acclaimed rapper and producer Pharrell Williams headed a giant lineup of artists, including names (only some of these ended up performing), the Jonas Brothers, Kid Cudi, Lil Uzi Vert, Lil Wayne, Lil Yachty, Summer Walker, Mumford and Sons, the Wu-Tang Clan, and many more. The festival expected 40 thousand attendees over the course of the weekend. 

Unfortunately for the festival, severe weather on both Friday and Sunday, including a thunderstorm/tornado on the latter turned it into a 1 ½ day long event. 33% of the cost of tickets was refunded, despite the festival losing money, and Pharrell commented that dates will be “shifted” next year. 

The festival was expected to make Virginia Beach millions of dollars (the festival made $21 million dollars in 2019), and invigorate the small businesses along the oceanfront. Hotels in 2019 were up to 90% capacity, a number that hotel owners hoped to replicate this year. Verizon partnered with the city to bolster 4G and 5G coverage on the oceanfront for the weekend, placing 14 extra cell poles near the festival grounds. Something in the Water also replaced the traditional “College Weekend” where college students would flock to the oceanfront, an event infamous for its association with crime.

Princess Anne and all Virginia Beach public schools were released early on an adjusted dismissal schedule on April 28th because to the festival, due to “uncertainty regarding traffic” according to officials within VBCPS. Something in the Water used 40+ VBCPS school buses as an option for shuttling attendees to the festival.

The Fabulous Marching Cavaliers Begin Spring Training

The Fabulous Marching Cavaliers have begun spring training for the 2023 competitive season. The FMC competitive season will begin on September 23 with Drums Along The Boulevard, hosted here at Princess Anne, and run through November. 

Those who wish to join the FMC should expect to “learn leadership, communication, cooperation, collaboration,” says John Boyd, band director of the FMC, as well as “to work hard, but to play hard, too.” Boyd has been the band director of PA for 23 years, leading the team to become a 15-time Virginia Honor Band.

The FMC is considered one of the best bands of Virginia, they “often compete with far larger bands and come out on top competitively,” says Boyd. The band room exhibits this. The band room’s shelves is lined with trophies, some so tall that they poke above the ceiling level. Boyd commented that students who join the FMC will “want to know what it’s like to do something amazing that they’ll be proud of for the rest of their lives.”

For more information, check the accompanying document.

Summer break will be shorter, hotter, and stormy! Yay!

As the school year wraps up, 26 full school days remain (as of May 4th), with four adjusted dismissal days (June 13, 14, 15, and 16). Only 15% of the 2022-2023 school year remains. Those returning in the fall will have a shorter summer break, school beginning on August 28 instead of September 6, nine days earlier, or approximately 11% shorter, ending the precedent of beginning school after labor day. 

According to Farmers’ Almanac, 2022 ranked as the third hottest summer in 128 years, the average at 73.9 degrees, 2.5 degrees above average. This is a trend that will continue into 2023, with not only incredibly high temperatures, but prevalent “oppressive, showery, [and] thundery,” conditions.

However, summer in Virginia Beach this year will still have many different events to enjoy, despite the weather. The first “Beach It!” country music festival will be coming to VB from June 23-25, with headliners like Miranda Lambert, Thomas Rhett, and Luke Bryan. On top of that, the Jackalope Fest, held from June 2-4, will highlight high energy sports like BASE-jumping, skateboarding, breakdancing, and bouldering. The Van Gogh “Immersive Experience” will come to the Virginia Beach Convention Center from July 6 to September 1.

Extra Notes for the FMC and Works Cited